True; as there is no power opposed to the expansive force of caloric in elastic bodies, its effect must be the same in all of them.
MRS. B.
Let us now proceed to examine the other properties of free caloric.
Free caloric always tends to diffuse itself equally, that is to say, when two bodies are of different temperatures, the warmer gradually parts with its heat to the colder, till they are both brought to the same temperature. Thus, when a thermometer is applied to a hot body, it receives caloric; when to a cold one, it communicates part of its own caloric, and this communication continues until the thermometer and the body arrive at the same temperature.
EMILY.
Cold, then, is nothing but a negative quality, simply implying the absence of heat.
MRS. B.
Not the total absence, but a diminution of heat; for we know of no body in which some caloric may not be discovered.
CAROLINE.
But when I lay my hand on this marble table I feel it positively cold, and cannot conceive that there is any caloric in it.